The Indians are among the clubs with interest in Padres closer Brad Hand, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. The Yankees and Cubs are among the other teams that have been previously linked to Hand in recent days.
Cleveland’s interest in Hand comes as little surprise. The 28-year-old left-hander has established himself as one of the game’s premier relievers over the past couple of seasons, and he’s signed to an affordable deal that guarantees him $6.5MM in 2019, $7MM in 2020 and has a $10MM club option for the 2021 season. The Indians, meanwhile, have surprisingly had one of the game’s absolute worst bullpens in 2018 and typically operate on a fairly tight budget, making Hand’s contract all the more appealing.
Of course, that contract and Hand’s excellence dating back to 2016 — 2.66 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9, 46.5 percent ground-ball rate in 213 innings — mean he’ll come with an especially steep price tag. The Indians have shown in the past that they’re willing to dip into their farm for significant upgrades at the deadline under the current front office structure, and a deal to bring Hand to Cleveland would bear similarity to the team’s 2016 acquisition of Andrew Miller from the Yankees (certainly in terms of significance and quite possibly in terms of price point). Cleveland sent vaunted prospects Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield to the Yankees as part of that exchange.
It’s fair to expect that if the Indians have inquired about Hand, they’ve also spoken to the Padres about righties Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen — each former members of the Indians organization themselves. San Diego figures to be actively listening on all three, after all, and at least in terms of bullpen targets, the Indians have been most prominently connected to relievers they can control beyond 2018 so far. Cleveland is reportedly interested in Baltimore righty Mychal Givens, and the Indians have also been tied to Marlins relievers such as Kyle Barraclough, Drew Steckenrider and Adam Conley.
That said, given the fact that Cleveland relievers have been clobbered for a 5.28 ERA that ranks 29th in the Majors this season, the Indians will surely be exploring myriad options as they look to fortify the bullpen with an eye toward October baseball.
sounds like they need a steady hand.
The indians already showed they can’t win a World Series even with good bullpen
Correction, Cleveland showed it can’t win with only 3 healthy starters. One of them was Josh Tomlin, with Kluber and Bauer having to go on three days rest.
If only Carrasco hadn’t been hurt…
Someone give them a Hand
Padres desperately need players who can hit, so I can imagine this trade happening if the Indians gave up Mejia.
Hand+Yates+Gettys(Rule 5 eligible)for Mejia and McKenzie. Who says no?
In all seriousness, this would be a good pairing. Having Hand in their bullpen for when the postseason comes around would be a boon for Indians. I could see the Padres asking for someone like Mejia, with maybe a lower-level lottery ticket tacked on.
Maybe they’d take Michael Martinez as a PTBNL?
Indians won’t part with Martinez
tito sure won’t
Just give it a few more weeks when you see Almonte in LF, Austin Jackson in CF and Martinez in RF for the Tribe.
Just stop it. That’s cruel and unusual punishment.
Yea because Hand has so much experience in postseason lol
It seems like the Yankees are doing nothing more than driving up the prospect price for other contenders…
Indians get: Francisco Cervelli, Felipe Vasquez. Pirates Get: Francisco Mejia, Brady Aiken, Shane Bieber, Josh Tomlin, Ryan Merrit.
Pirate fan? Bieber is younger, cheaper, and a more valuable pitcher than Vasquez. Then you add in 1.5 years of 32 year old Francisco Cervelli for their #1 prospect?
This is a joke right? Beiber and Mejia are both more valuable than Vasquez. Plus why would the Indians trade for a catcher when they have 2 under control already.
Why would Tribe want Cervilli?
The Tribe get all of that? Really? And you get off the crack pipe…
LMFAOOO
Did you forget to take your meds again?
Are you drunk or something bc that’s the worse deal I’ve ever heard
Why would the Indians want to do that?
I’m not against Vazquez, and Dickerson is interesting, but I wouldn’t touch Cervelli…well period. And Bieber is untouchable at this point.
Every team has interest in a cheap, dominant reliever under contract. You could replace Indians with 29 other teams in the headline and it would be true.
I would look at maybe Nolan Jones, Willi Castro, Yu-Cheng Chang, and one lottery ticket prospect for Hand. I would love Mejia or McKenzie but I don’t think they will get moved. Bieber is already performing well in the bigs and I can’t see him being moved for a reliever.
At this point, I dare to say Bieber has more trade value than the top relievers on the market, even despite such a small sample size in the bigs. Starting pitching is crazy valuable these days.. But with that said, the Padres adding to a Hand package from their rule 5 potential targets could entice the Indians. This scenario reminds me of the Tigers weighing a Fulmer trader during his rookie season. After seeing Bieber pitch during my days working at UC Santa Barbara’s baseball program, I was convinced he would have a fruitful major league career! Could be a unique way of getting the Indians on track for the WS again, but at a large risk/cost for sure.
Not a friggin chance of all them for Hand.
The best comp for a trade for Hand would probably be the Ken Giles trade in 2015. Typically relievers have higher value at the trade deadline. Giles had more years of control (via arbitration) but Hand has a better track record, more durability, and cost certainty with a club buyout. To get Giles Astros sent Mark Appel (43rd rated prospect at the time), Vincent Velasquez ( graduated as 74th rated prospect), Derek Fisher (37th overall pick in 2014), Thomas Eshelman (2nd round in 2015), and two extra prospects (Brett Oberholtzer and Harold Arauz). In contrast Nolan Jones is barely in the top 100 and the other two prospects are good but not compared to what the Astros gave up.
No.
And that trade was a massive failure. You need to understand, they aren’t gonna be using failed trades as measuring sticks for what you can get.
Also Derek Fisher was never traded, don’t know where you got that
It was Appel or Fisher and the phils picked the former #1 pick. Not a good choice. Prospects rankings are nothing but a baseline. There are your elite prospects at the top that can’t be debated but once you get passed let’s say the first 15 or so depending on the year. It’s pretty subjective of where a guy is after that. A guy could be 30 on one list or 95 on another. I think Mejia is in that top group though. If they were able to get him as a headliner for hand and Stammen that’d be a nice return. Indians have some good looking secondary pieces. Pads system is really deep with those kinds of secondary pieces though.
I love the picture. Hands EVERYWHERE
I see stupid people. You do realize that Preller asked for Acuna, Robles, or Torres level prospects as the headliner of a deal for Hand last season right? And that he has said he wants a young MLB player this year?
Mejia is not even in the same category of prospect as those 3. They are all 60-65 prospects. He might be a piece in a trade for Hand, but its going to take more. Think about what the Indians gave up for Miller.
How many them 3 did he get? And they play a position that. Could be filled easier than a Catcher.
Plot twist: Hands trade value went up with the new deal. Pay attention bud..
Hand is not even close to how good miller was when the Indians traded for him. Why do you think Preller didn’t move him last year? Cause he was asking for the moon.
^yes, yes, and yes. People are acting like Preller WANTS to keep Hand. Ummm no, or else he wouldn’t even be made available. Preller has made it well known that Hand is available. The problem is, he sets the price so high, other teams laugh and say “no thanks”. It’s really that simple. If he was worth what Preller was asking… he would have been dealt by now. Pretty common sense. In my opinion, Preller needs to trade Hand… because he has value, and the Padres have holes they need addresses and are NOT competing this year, next year, and they are HOPEFUL for 2020 (if all prospects have rookie of the year type seasons…). Hand needs to be dealt… but the asking price needs to be more realistic. Otherwise, Preller will just be stuck with an above average (NOT TOP TWO OR THREE) closer, on a WELL below average team. That’s just the reality of it. Again… Hand has value… very good value…. just not what Preller is asking for. That’s evident by the FACT that nobody is willing to meet that asking price
WoW JD you are right and I have to (arggg) Hand it to you! The picture is Hilarious! I can just here it, “Can I have a raising of ….. for any other teams interested? Teams that get any if our pitchers should request a years worth of advise from the Padres *pitching coach be included!!!
*Darren Balsley (didn’t want to spell Coach Balsley’s name wrong on my prior post).
I was hoping the Mets would get Mejia for Familia. It’s not a fine deal yet, still a chance.
Yeah that’s never gonna happen in a million years
So a 3.05 era in the Padres ballpark is good? I love the over value of bullpen guys in the MLB right now. You can build a whole new farm system off of some slightly above average pitching. The best part about Hand is his contract. His numbers aren’t crazy good.
Ahh classic. Citing era to gage a players performance in half a year
Just ignore posts like this. These are likely the same people that still think batting average and pitcher win-loss records are important.
He also has a FIP over 3 and a negative bWAR… What stats would you like to use to gauge his performance?
Lol. How can you rail a guy for using ERA when it’s actually lower than his FIP? The eye test?
It’s just Padres fans are desperate to find any reason to say hand is like the best reliever in baseball when he’s clearly not even top ten.
Dodgers should address their pen; not go after a luxury acquisition like Machado.
Who says they can’t do both?
They can. There has been no report about them pursuing it despite a glaring need.
Hand has a -0.1 WAR this year, he’s hardly been “dominate” and I’d be cautious about trading away too much.
He also has 13 k/9- has pitched 44 innings in 30 or so games- an era around 3.
-0.1 WAR for a lefty that can pitch against righties and lefties yeah this is why WAR isnt all that important.
An ERA around 3 isn’t that great… If you really want to use ERA to judge him, he’s the 68th best reliever in baseball (among those qualified). And he’s 124th in LOB%, which is also pretty important for a reliever…
Realistically, he’s a good reliever with a great contract. Talent/performance wise, he’s nowhere near the level of Chapman/Miller when they were traded – not even close. If the Padres are holding out for a package like those, Hand will absolutely remain in San Diego – and there’s nothing wrong with that.
And he has pitched 44.1 innings in 41 games. I recommend fact checking before pulling random numbers out your ***.
124th but still holding them on base at a clip at better than 70%
Also weird how you neglected to mention the padres are sporting a -11.7. Dwar from hosmer, -6.1 Dwar from pirela. To sum it up for you the defense behind Hand isnt great on the right side.
But course thats Hands fault Hosmer and Pirela have issues with their defense. Not like that impacts a stat like LOB. Try harder man.
Man how dumb are you btw? Do you not know what the phrase “or so means”. Jesus christ. 30 or so and youre butt hurt over being constantly wrong and not saying exactly how many games he pitched in.
Brad hand isn’t miller or Chapman. If you’re able to get a prospect as good as Mejia for him and let’s say Stammen that’d be a great return. He’s the best left handed reliever on the open market unless Britton turns into the pitcher of old in the next week. He has a team friendly contract. He won’t be cheap but he’s not bringing back a torres or acuna like talent or some other crazy stuff I’ve heard. Getting to control Brad hand for 3 years is Great but he doesn’t provide the same performance Aroldis Chapman or Andrew miller would for the next 3 months. It’s like not getting Machado and being pumped about Whit Merrifield. Sure, he has tons of cheaper control but he’s not the same player either. …..I’m sure it won’t take long until pads fans are all over this.
As is in every season, the Indians gaze longingly towards Brad Hand. .
Its simple for the padres.
Trade Hand if you get a deal you like. Dont trade him if you dont.
Ross needs to go. Maybe stammen and yates.
Then revisit trades during the winter with teams that should have traded for hand and were bounced from the playoffs.
ReverieDays check your stats… Hands WAR is .6 this year not -.01
Though WAR isn’t everything lol
Padresforlife (really???)
Yeah, Hand doesn’t have postseason experience… just back to back innings in allstar games where he was the best pitcher from the national league side both games an inning 1 strikeout no hits no walks. Oh, the only one this year to do that in either league. Hmmm I wonder if the lineup would be tougher in postseason the allstars he faced aren’t that good…righttt. Geez
All Star game 1 inning exhibition nice try
Cmon buddy AS game appearance. Talk about a completely irrelevant performance.
It’s not irrelevant but also with game meaningless not that big deal. 4 blown saves last month and lefties hitting him bigger. Preller overvaluing Hand and now not liking offers.
Cubs get hand and indians get bote and caratini. Padres get a starting 3rd baseman and caratini can be their starting catcher.
Really? The Indians now need a catcher? SMH, stick to running your fantasy team.
Last comment, the Padres have often brought in Hand before the last inning to face the opponents best hitters, or in pressure situations. I’ve watched games this was done, one interesting one where Yates was then given the closer spot. He is I believe one of the few mostly dominant lefty relievers in the game. Nuff said.
I want to make a quick comparison between Andrew Miller and Brad Hand.
°Miller signed a 4 year/$36 million with the Yankees on the 2014-2015 off-season.
°He was then traded to the Indians in the 2016 trade deadline at the age of 31 with two and a half years remaining of his contract remaining
°Aquired:
✓Outfielder Clint Frazier (ranked 15th top prospect in MLB by MLB.com in 2016)
✓LHP Justus Sheffield (ranked 78)
✓RHP Ben Heller
✓RHP J.P. Feyereisen.
Between 2012 and 2016 (before he got traded to the Indians) Miller accumulated
*240.1 innings pitched
*allowed 59 earned runs (2.21 ERA)
*379 strikeouts (14.2 SO9)
*81 walks (3.0 BB9)
*147 hits (5.5 H9)
*19 home runs (0.7 HR9)
°Hand signed a 3 year/$18 million extension on the 2017-2018 offseason with the Padres plus a $10 million team option for 2021
*If Hand is traded by this years trade deadline he will have two and a half years of his contract remaining (plus the team option) and will be 28 years of age
From 2016 to 2018, Hand has accumulated
*213 innings pitched
*allowed 63 earned runs (2.66 ERA)
*280 strikeouts (11.8 SO9)
*71 walks (3.0 BB9)
*150 hits (6.3 H9)
*22 home runs (0.9 HR9)
What I take from that comparison is that Miller is a tad bit better but Hand is half the price. The Indians are the perfect team to acquire Hand because internally they know exactly how much he is worth compared to the golden standard (Andrew Miller) of guys that do what he does.
Hand also pitches in the NL in one of the top pitchers parks in the game. Hand won’t bring back a second guy as highly rated as Sheffield was at the time.
Petco is actually the 4th worst park for pitchers this year if you look at park factors. 6th worst for HRs. They have brought in the fences multiple times. We need help. Our hitters have been horrid for a while.
I think if the Padres add Kirby Yates to the trade the could bring back a player like Edward Mejia & Nolan Jones plus other lower prospects.
I’d want the Padres to go all in with the Indians to meet all their needs and in order for the Padres to get all of theirs in return.
Fix the bullpen and add right handed punch. Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Hunter Renfroe for Francisco Mejia, Triston McKenzie and Brady Aiken.
The Padres grab the best two prospects in Cleveland’s system in exchange for two elite relief pitchers who are controlled for multiple seasons or through Cleveland’s window of serious contention. Add to that a young power outfielder who has already demonstrated 30 home run power.
Yup
I like McKenzie, but we need more bats; I would tweak the deala and try to grab either Nolan Jones or Yandy Diaz instead. Jose Ramirez has 3B locked down so they may be more motivated to move them.
I disagree with Bieber being untouchable. Trading Shane would be worth it in a package for deGrom. That said, most Indians fans will side with your opinion.
No. Why on earth would Cleveland be in the market for deGrom? They need bullpen help not a starter.
Can Francisco Mejia play third base? Because the Padres are content for the future with Austin Hedges behind the plate. Middle infield will be filled with two stud prospects next year, Fernando Tatis Jr and Luis Urias. Third base is where Padres would need him, otherwise Hand will stay in SD. Also, any trade Padres will make dealing Hand, will need to benefit them greatly.
Mejia has played 3B and LF in the past. He would prefer to be a catcher. As for Hedges, I doubt fans will be content if he continues to hit so poorly. Mejia gives the Padres a lot of options, it would be great to have him.
Hedges is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. The Padres aren’t really concerned if he can hit or not
Really? He can’t throw to 2nd base how many errors?
5 errors in 38 games is that new age defense metrics that says he’s good?
2017 Defensive: 37% CS (26/71), 20 DRS, 9.0 DEF, 18.1 Framing RAA
Ok and that means 5 errors are?
Buster Poseys 2017 Defensive: 38% CS (22/58), 2 DRS, 9.1 DEF, 1.6 Framing RAA. Idk if you watch baseball or anything, but Austin Hedges was injured for more than half of the season. If you understand baseball, then you would know that not all players perform the same right after they get off the DL, it takes time for some to adjust. Go away you troll!
Buster Posey older and been where he’s going has his 3 rings. That’s your comparison?
Omg you’re a troll bro just leave this website. now you’re trying to justify Hedges not being such a great catcher because he’s 30 tyears old…which in baseball it’s most players peak years and also because he happens to win a WS? Do you even watch baseball? He didn’t win the ring alone, he just happened to be in a good team. How about just you delete your account and do a little more reaseaech before you come here and comment lmao!
*Because Posey is older (30years old) and Hedges is younger.
Hedges has been hitting
I love Hedges and his defense but he just can’t get on base; I would take Mejia in a heartbeat, even if we just let them platoon and compete.
He is learning, I copied some of his information from Cleveland’s top 30 report:
After catching almost exclusively during his first four seasons, Mejia spent the entire AFL working at third base, where he compensated for raw footwork and actions with his cannon, plus-plus arm strength. While the Indians haven’t yet given up on Mejia as a catcher, it’s clear that they are eager to improve his defensive versatility, with the ultimate goal of getting his bat into the lineup regularly in 2018.
Some other information on him:
Team: Columbus Clippers (AAA) ETA: 2018 Position: C/OF Age: 22 DOB: 10/27/1995 Bats: S Throws: R Height: 5′ 10″ Weight: 180 lb. Signed: July 7, 2012 – CLE Other Lists: Top 100 Prospects (#15), Top 10 C Prospects (#1)
Padres are rarely ahead in ninth inning….why do we need stud closer? Trade Hand.